Cougars overcome ice-cold shooting
Conant was ice cold in the first three quarters Friday night.
The Cougars shot 18 percent (8-of-44) but entered the final quarter trailing host Palatine only 24-22.
The Cougars then turned up the heat in the final quarter, hitting two 3-pointers and converting their free throws to pull out a 38-32 opening-night Mid-Suburban West girls basketball victory.
"We had some decent shots, but we're a team that has to make open shots," said coach Dan Travers of the Cougars early struggles. "But we hung around and the girls proved themselves in the final quarter."
Senior Lauren Jason (8 points) converted her own missed shot to start the final quarter, propelling Conant on an 8-0 run, as Nicole Ladehoff and Angie Lonski followed with back-to-back 3s for a 30-26 lead.
But Palatine responded as junior Heather Zimmerman (7 points) scored on a drive to tie the score at 30-30 with 2:36 remaining.
Conant (6-1, 1-0) then proceeded to convert 8-of-9 free throws in the final 1:45 to secure the victory.
"Our seniors really pulled through with the free throws," said Jason, who missed all of last season with a torn ACL. "And that's what we practice."
Conant also received a big lift off the bench from senior Marissa Ross (8 points), senior Jackie Piasecki and Ladehoff (6 points).
"We always play together and try to give the team a spark," said Ross, whose 2 free throws at 1:45 gave the Cougars a 32-30 lead they would not relinquish. "It's a big win."
Despite having 16 turnovers in the opening half, Palatine (2-5, 0-1) led 17-13 at the break. Senior Katie MacFabe scored a game high 12 points and added 12 rebounds to power the Pirates.
Palatine increased its advantage to 20-17 early in the third quarter, but converted only 1-of-7 free throws in the second half.
"We do some nice things to put ourselves in position to win," said first-year Palatine coach Leslie Schock. "We're just having trouble closing it out."
Elk Grove 47, Meadows 45 (2 OT): Krystina Leazer (13 points) hit a pair of field goals and Olivia Roback (10 points) added a free throw in the second overtime to lift visiting Elk Grove (3-4, 1-0) to the win in the MSL East opener.
Elk Grove scored the first 6 points of the first overtime but Meadows (2-5, 0-1) came back to tie it at 42-42 to force a second extra session.
Freshman Dani Goranson added 8 points for the winners.
Grenadiers leading scorer, 6-foot junior forward Ashley Capotosto, had 4 points.
"We put all our eggs into one basket and we said we were going to let their guards beat us," said Meadows first-year coach Todd Hatfield about the defense on Capotosto. "With Roback and Leazer having good games, we fell 2 points short.
"Give Elk Grove credit. We held down Capotosto and they beat us. I was happy with how we responded in overtime after falling behind 6-0. But we have to learn how to finish games."
Freshmen Amanda Gunn and Ann Marie Lynch had 7 of the Mustangs' 9 points in overtime while sophomore Madelyn Conlin had the other 2.
"Gunn and Lynch were huge," Hatfield said. "They kind of turned into sophomores."
Maine West 54, Washington 30: Ten Warriors made it into the scoring column led by Sam Acosta (13 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds), Megan O'Neill (12 points, 5 rebounds), Shaina Yalda (6 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds) and Kelsey Hargesheimer (6 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists).
The Warriors improved to 5-2 and 3-1 in their own Tip-Off Classic.
Marian Catholic 64, Hersey 45: Sophomore Megan Rogowski scored 19 points and grabbed 8 rebounds to lead the Huskies (4-2, 2-2) in a Maine West Tip-Off Classic contest.
Junior Sarah Jurczak and senior Kelly Rogowski (3 rebounds) each added 8 points while junior Maddie Swan had 7 points and 4 rebounds. Junior Julia Fredian collected 7 rebounds and 3 assists.